Ichiro is going home to Seattle, and nothing has been more perfect
Ichiro’s career seems like it will end where it began in Seattle — and that’s perfect.
It’s often that we get perfect symmetry in sports, but what more romantic place for that to happen than baseball? Ichiro became a phenomenon when he debuted for the Seattle Mariners back in 2001, and has since become a legend of the franchise. But he hasn’t played a game for the Mariners since being traded to New York back in 2012. The six-year separation appears to be over, and the sun will set in the west on Ichiro’s career.
According to Bob Nightengale, Ichiro is nearing a deal to return to Seattle.
At 44 years old, Ichiro is still playing baseball. And now, he’s apparently going back to his original MLB home–Seattle. Ichiro began his major league career with the Mariners in 2001. Seventeen years later, after stints with the New York Yankees and Miami Marlins, he’s found his way back to the Emerald City.
Mariners outfielder Ben Gamel was recently diagnosed with an oblique strain and is expected to miss upwards of six weeks. So the addition of Ichiro would give them a left-handed bat until Gamel returns.
The real question is whether or not Ichiro can perform well enough to stay with the team even after Gamel comes back.
In 12 seasons with the Mariners, Ichiro slashed .322/.366/.418 with 633 RBI. He also stole a whopping 438 bases. For his career, he’s hit for a .322 average while joining the 3,000-hit club. He’ll no doubt be heading for the Hall of Fame when he finally calls it a career.
The last seven seasons, though, have been tough for the Japanese superstar. Since 2011, he’s recorded an OPS of just .655. Entering his age-44 season, Ichiro’s best days are behind him. But there’s reason to believe he could still have something left in the tank. Just two short years ago, at 42, he slashed .291/.354/.376 with the Marlins.
If he can put up those kinds of numbers at 42, who’s to say he couldn’t do something similar at 44? In 2017, the average MLB player hit .255. Ichiro hit exactly .255 that year. The league-average OBP was .324. Ichiro was just shy of that, getting on base at a .318 clip. So at the very least, he may still be a league-average hitter in his mid-40s. That’s impressive.
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Even if Ichiro can’t stick around for the whole season, it will be entirely worth it to see him in a Mariners uniform again, even if it’s just for a short while. This is a smart move by Seattle, both from a baseball perspective and for the fans.